From the conversations you've had, what is your sense about how Iraqis feel about the prospect of any greater U.S. involvement?

NicRobertson: They're divided. Certainly on the Sunni side, in Anbar province and among the tribes that are supporting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, they would see it as the Americans backing the Shia. That wouldn't put the Americans in a very good position to play a mediating type of role, although it would be different if, through American influence, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was replaced by someone who was more tolerant and less sectarian.

Here in Baghdad, if you go and talk to the guys who are being recruited and who are volunteering to join the Shia militias, they are happy to have American support for their government. And there was perhaps a week ago more of a fear that ISIS might arrive in Baghdad and that they really needed to be stopped in their tracks.

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But I would also say that there's caution, because everyone knows what American involvement looks like here. For example, one Sunni politician we talked to said that if the Americans come in, they would have to put right what they did wrong last time. What they mean is they left a sectarian leader in charge of the country, so if there's any chance of keeping Sunnis onside if there are airstrikes against ISIS, then it will have to involve getting rid of al-Maliki. The Americans have got to be seen to be giving something to both sides, if you like.

Smoke rises from the front line of a clash south of Kirkuk, Iraq, on Saturday, March 14.

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A group of Kurdish Peshmerga troops take a break from fighting ISIS militants south of Kirkuk on March 14.

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Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite militiamen gather in Tikrit on Friday, March 13. Ousting ISIS from Tikrit is important for the United States-led coalition trying to thwart the extremist group's quest to grow its caliphate. ISIS wants to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and Syria.

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A motorcyclist passes destroyed buildings in the Syrian town of Kobani on Thursday, March 12, after it has been freed from ISIS militants.

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Smoke billows after a mortar shell hit an Anbar governorate building in Ramadi, Iraq, on Wednesday, March 11. ISIS has launched a coordinated attack on government-held areas of the western Iraqi city. Ramadi has been the focus of a fierce ISIS assault since Iraqi forces made gains against the group in Tikrit.

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The parents of 19-year-old Mohammed Musallam react at the family's home in the East Jerusalem Jewish settlement of Neve Yaakov on Tuesday, March 10. ISIS released a video purportedly showing a young boy executing Musallam, an Israeli citizen of Palestinian descent who ISIS claimed infiltrated the group in Syria to spy for the Jewish state. Musallam's family told CNN that he had no ties with the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, and had, in fact, been recruited by ISIS.

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Iraqi Shiite fighters cover their ears as a rocket is launched during a clash with ISIS militants in the town of Al-Alam, Iraq, on Monday, March 9.

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Displaced Assyrian women who fled their homes due to ISIS attacks pray at a church on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, March 1. ISIS militants recently abducted at least 220 Assyrians in Syria.

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Safi al-Kasasbeh, right, receives condolences from tribal leaders at his home village near Karak, Jordan, on Wednesday, February 4. Al-Kasasbeh's son, Jordanian pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh, was burned alive in a video that was recently released by ISIS militants. Jordan is one of a handful of Middle Eastern nations taking part in the U.S.-led military coalition against ISIS.

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A Kurdish marksman looks over a destroyed area of Kobani on Friday, January 30, after the city had been liberated from the ISIS militant group. The Syrian city, also known as Ayn al-Arab, had been under assault by ISIS since mid-September.

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Smoke billows in Kirkuk as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take position against ISIS militants on January 30.

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Kurdish people celebrate in Suruc, Turkey, near the Turkish-Syrian border, after ISIS militants were expelled from Kobani on Tuesday, January 27.

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Collapsed buildings are seen in Kobani on January 27 after Kurdish forces took control of the town from ISIS.

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Junko Ishido, mother of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, reacts during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, January 23. ISIS would later kill Goto and another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa.

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ISIS militants are seen through a rifle's scope during clashes with Peshmerga fighters in Mosul, Iraq, on Wednesday, January 21.

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An elderly Yazidi man arrives in Kirkuk after being released by ISIS on Saturday, January 17. The militant group released about 200 Yazidis who were held captive for five months in Iraq. Almost all of the freed prisoners were in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect, Kurdish officials said.

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Smoke billows behind an ISIS sign during an Iraqi military operation to regain control of the town of Sadiyah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, on Tuesday, November 25.

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Fighters from the Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish People's Protection Units join forces to fight ISIS in Kobani on Wednesday, November 19.

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A picture taken from Turkey shows smoke rising after ISIS militants fired mortar shells toward an area controlled by Syrian Kurdish fighters near Kobani on Monday, November 3.

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Iraqi special forces search a house in Jurf al-Sakhar, Iraq, on Thursday, October 30, after retaking the area from ISIS.

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ISIS militants stand near the site of an airstrike near the Turkey-Syria border on Thursday, October 23. The United States and several Arab nations have been bombing ISIS targets in Syria to take out the militant group's ability to command, train and resupply its fighters.

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A U.S. Air Force plane flies above Kobani on Saturday, October 18.

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Heavy smoke rises in Kobani following an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on October 18.

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Cundi Minaz, a female Kurdish fighter, is buried in a cemetery in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc on Tuesday, October 14. Minaz was reportedly killed during clashes with ISIS militants in nearby Kobani.

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Turkish police officers secure a basketball stadium in Suruc on October 14. Some Syrian Kurds were held there after crossing from Syria into Turkey. Tens of thousands of people fled Kobani to escape ISIS.

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Kiymet Ergun, a Syrian Kurd, celebrates in Mursitpinar, Turkey, after an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Kobani on Monday, October 13.

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Alleged ISIS militants stand next to an ISIS flag atop a hill in Kobani on Monday, October 6.

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In this photo released by the U.S. Air Force on Saturday, October 4, a U.S. Navy jet is refueled in Iraqi airspace after conducting an airstrike against ISIS militants.

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A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier who was wounded in a battle with ISIS is wheeled to the Zakho Emergency Hospital in Duhuk, Iraq, on Tuesday, September 30.

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Syrian Kurds wait near a border crossing in Suruc as they wait to return to their homes in Kobani on Sunday, September 28.

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Tomahawk missiles, intended for ISIS targets in Syria, fly above the Persian Gulf after being fired by the USS Philippine Sea in this image released by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday, September 23.

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Turkish Kurds clash with Turkish security forces during a protest near Suruc on Monday, September 22. According to Time magazine, the protests were over Turkey's temporary decision to close the border with Syria.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at ISIS militant positions from their position on the top of Mount Zardak, east of Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday, September 9.

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Iraqi volunteer fighters celebrate breaking the Amerli siege on Monday, September 1. ISIS militants had surrounded Amerli, 70 miles north of Baquba, Iraq, since mid-June.

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Kurdish Peshmergas fight to regain control of the town of Celavle, in Iraq's Diyala province, on August 24.

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Peshmerga fighters stand guard at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq on Thursday, August 21. With the help of U.S. military airstrikes, Kurdish and Iraqi forces retook the dam from ISIS militants on August 18. A breach of the dam would have been catastrophic for millions of Iraqis who live downstream from it.

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Displaced Iraqis receive clothes from a charity at a refugee camp near Feeshkhabour, Iraq, on Tuesday, August 19.

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Peshmerga fighters inspect the remains of a car that reportedly belonged to ISIS militants and was targeted by a U.S. airstrike in the village of Baqufa, north of Mosul, on August 18.

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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at ISIS in Khazair, Iraq, on Thursday, August 14.

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Aziza Hamid, a 15-year-old Iraqi girl, cries for her father while she and some other Yazidi people are flown to safety Monday, August 11, after a dramatic rescue operation at Iraq's Mount Sinjar. A CNN crew was on the flight, which took diapers, milk, water and food to the site where as many as 70,000 people were trapped by ISIS. But only a few of them were able to fly back on the helicopter with the Iraqi Air Force and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

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Thousands of Yazidis are escorted to safety by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and a People's Protection Unit in Mosul on Saturday, August 9.

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A Baiji oil refinery burns after an alleged ISIS attack in northern Selahaddin, Iraq, on Thursday, July 31.

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A Syrian rebel fighter lies on a stretcher at a makeshift hospital in Douma, Syria, on Wednesday, July 9. He was reportedly injured while fighting ISIS militants.

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New army recruits gather in Najaf, Iraq, on Wednesday, June 18, following a call for Iraqis to take up arms against Islamic militant fighters.

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Kurdish Peshmerga forces, along with Iraqi special forces, deploy their troops and armored vehicles outside of Kirkuk, Iraq, on June 12.

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Children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants in Mosul on Tuesday, June 10.

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Civilians from Mosul escape to a refugee camp near Irbil, Iraq, on June 10.

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EXPAND GALLERY

What kind of support is al-Maliki seeing in Baghdad?

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Robertson: It depends who you ask. He has taken a tough line, and a lot of people in the Shia community are answering the call to stand up and join the fight against ISIS. But I think if you asked most moderate, middle-class people, and certainly anyone in the Sunni community, they would say that he isn't a guy for the future. They say that the way al-Maliki has responded thus far to the crisis -- one that many people feel he created through sectarian policies -- has further alienated the Sunnis he should be trying to build bridges with.

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Have you seen many visible signs around Baghdad of a city preparing for a possible assault? There was talk last week of Baghdad being a target for militants -- how fortified does the city appear?

Robertson: The area has been fortified for some time. It's kind of like it was when I was here in 2007, 2008, 2009, back when it started to get more heavily fortified. I would say there are perhaps even a few more checkpoints than back then -- there are certainly a lot of checkpoints at all the main roads, all the main intersections, every few hundred yards.

VictoriaEastwood: Yes, as you're driving along the roads, at virtually every street corner there's a man in a uniform sitting there with a gun. The other thing that's quite noticeable is how many blast walls there are -- these very high concrete walls that are outside people's houses, or across roads. And you'll see someone's house, but it's surrounded by barbed wire and high walls.

Robertson: The other thing we experienced just today was when we were driving down the street by the river, and we saw an army patrol. And they will just suddenly close that street you are driving on, so you have to go another way -- there's no way to talk them out of it. So street closures come at random.

What has it been like trying to report from Baghdad, on the street?

Robertson: The hardest thing for us has even been getting permission to film on the street. We've been here for a week and we're still trying to get that permission. As a Westerner in Baghdad you stand out very clearly when you're on the street, and you attract a lot of attention with a camera. So unless you have permission to be using it, you will be shut down very quickly.

Hundreds of thousands of residents from cities like Mosul that have come under siege from militants have been fleeing the violence. Where are they going? Is the government offering any provision for the internally displaced?

Robertson: The government not so much, it seems, and we don't see this so much in Baghdad. Most of the people that fled out of Anbar have found accommodation with families, friends and others that have taken them in. They are very dispersed -- it's not like they have collected in a particular area.

The people that have just fled out of Mosul, for example, have mostly fled to the Kurdish region where it's safer and where there are displacement camps being set up. But in Baghdad, even though the fighting is only about a 45-minute drive northeast of the city, people fleeing Baquba, for example, aren't arriving here in perceptible numbers.

Eastwood: We just did an interview with someone from the (International Committee of the Red Cross) office, and what he said is that what happens for people in Baghdad who have been internally displaced from areas where there is fighting is that they get brought into their ethnic communities -- they are seeking shelter in these places because they feel safer, rather than necessarily going to NGOs. Many are seeking sanctuary in their ethnic neighborhoods, and these are very closed neighborhoods.

How optimistic are people here that Iraq can be prevented from falling apart as a unified nation? Do Iraqis you speak to care whether the country ends up being divided?

Robertson: I think people want to be safe. I think the Kurds, for example, have been able to take advantage of the situation and have taken control of the last big town that is important to them, Kirkuk, and they have no intention of giving it up. So I think whatever the Iraq is of the future, the Kurds are going to want the Kurdish region, which has had some autonomy, to have even more autonomy and greater separation from Baghdad.

I think as the sectarian tensions rise -- and you've already been seeing this over the past decade -- you will have, as Victoria just said, people fleeing to their communities. And this means you're going to have even more sectarian division -- the fault lines are opening up over sectarian lines. And at the moment there's no indication that this government has the ability to roll back wholesale the gains by ISIS and the Sunnis. Anbar and Falluja are a prime example of that -- they took control of these places at the beginning of the year, and the government has been incapable of taking them back. It has basically just built very big checkpoints on the roads, essentially cutting them off. The government has just walled off connections to large Sunni areas.

And that's probably quite symptomatic of the way this is likely to play out. But what this means is that any political compromise in the future is going to be short-lived, and may never be able to bring back the country to the way it was before.

Eastwood: From what we've been told, people that can afford it are trying to leave the country. We have just done an interview with someone Nic has known for a very long time -- he has reported on her story, and that of her family, over the course of a decade. And in that time, her husband was shot dead in early sectarian violence, her daughter was kidnapped. She only managed to get her daughter back by kidnapping another senior militant who then allowed her daughter to be released. And yet despite all this, it's only now that she says she has had enough and that she sees no future for this country.

Robertson: Her eldest daughter is a Shiite who is going to get married to a Sunni, and so they need to get to the Kurdish region so it is safe. Then they are planning to leave the country. She has been through hell. And now for her this is it -- there's no hope for the future of the country.